Self-made is a word that comes quickly to mind when a man has overcome
difficulties that have beset his path and used them as stepping-stones by
which he has climbed to a large measure of success in life. It is an
honorable word and. stands for industry, perseverance, courage and
self-denial, and may justly and appropriately be used in commenting on the
life and career of Anthony Doherty, one of the prominent business men of
Clay City, Illinois. That success should come to such a man is in justice
due, for the untrained lad who overcomes obstacles by sheer persistency and
indefatigable labor certainly deserves such reward. Mr. Doherty was born in
the state of Louisiana, August 11, 1858, and is a son of Robert H. and Sarah
A. (Smith) Doherty, and grandson of Anthony and Charlotte (Swayzee) Doherty.
Mr. Doherty's grandfather was a wealthy Louisiana planter and
slave-owner, and died just before the Civil war, while his grandfather on
the maternal side was a native of Massachusetts who moved to Louisiana and
there spent the rest of his life. The latter had a family of five children,
to all of whom he left a good estate. Robert H. Doherty was born in
Louisiana, November 3, 1831, and received excellent educational advantages,
being a graduate of Bethany (Virginia) College. He was engaged in sugar
planting in his native state. He died September 27, 1860. His widow was left
with the estate that had been given her by her father, but this was lost,
like thousands of other fortunes, when the Confederacy went to its doom, and
Mrs. Doherty was persuaded to move to a little farm belonging to a maiden
aunt in Illinois. Accordingly, she came to this state in 1871, settled on
the little property and proceeded to rear and educate her children as best
she might, and Anthony secured a good education in the schools of Clay City.
After completing his mental training he started life on his little
forty-acre farm, but he had no inclination for the vocation of an
agriculturist and after giving the life a trial entered a drug store,
working for a year without pay, except his board, in order to learn the
business. During the next two years he worked as a clerk in drug stores at a
salary of thirty dollars per month, but found he was not advancing fast
enough, and so secured employment as a school teacher. During the next six
years he was employed as an educator in various parts of the county and for
one year was principal of schools in Clay City, and in 1882 found he had
saved enough, by constant economy, to purchase a one-half interest in a drug
store. Subsequently he and his partner divided the stock and Mr. Doherty
took his brother as partner, under the firm name of Doherty Brothers, a
concern that has conducted a pharmacy in Clay City for more than
twenty-eight years. In 1881 Mr. Doherty first went on the road as a
commercial traveler for a drug house, and he has traveled nearly all the
time since. At one time he decided to leave the road, but after a short
trial found that his health demanded traveling, and accordingly took up the
work and again became a "Knight of the Grip." Since 1899 Mr. Doherty has
been in the service of the J. S. Merrill Drug Company, and he is known to
members of the trade all over the country. Mr. Doherty has invested much of
his capital in valuable lands in Illinois, and nows owns an excellent,
well-paying farm of one hundred and forty-eight acres, located near Clay
City. He is a capable business man, and to each of his several enterprises
brings a complete and intricate knowledge of detail, showing the result of
careful and conscientious study. He is a prominent Mason, belonging to Clay
City Lodge, No. 488, A. F. & A. M.; Flora Chapter, No. 154, R, A. M.; Gorin
Commandery, No. 14 K. T. of Olney, and has served as master of his lodge and
as district deputy grand master for a number of years He gives his political
allegiance to the Democratic party, but has been too busy to think of
seeking public preferment. With his family he attends the Christian church.
Mr. Doherty was first married to Miss Maggie Smith, who died July 5.
1880, daughter of John Smith. On December 28, 1881, his second marriage
occurred, when he was united with Miss Clara Souther, daughter of Simon
Souther, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany. Mr. Souther who was a carpenter by
trade and came to the United States when a lad of eight years, lived for a
number of years at Salem, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Doherty have had seven
children, namely: Ethel, who married Dr. C. E. Duff, a well-known dental
practitioner of Lawrenceville, Illinois; Robert, an electrical engineer at
Schenectady, New York, in the employ of the General Electric Company, and a
graduate of the class of 1909, University of Illinois; Maude, who lives at
home with her parents; Stephen Swayzee, who in April, 1912, graduated from
the Chicago Veterinary College; Thomas Anthony, traveling in Illinois for a
wholesale drug establishment; Chester C., a student at the Lawrenceville
high school; and -Kathleen, who lives at home and is attending school.
Extracted 09 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Southern Illinois, by George W. Smith, published in 1912, volume 3, pages 1460-1461.
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